About Me

When?
Started: 1993
Who?
Started with staff and friends from U H S, Chester.
Organiser: Martyn Harris
We walk every Thursday and Saturdays, New Years day and May Day.
How many walk? Walks take place as long as there are at least 2 wanting to walk on that day.
More walk on a Thursday than on a Saturday.
Most ever: 29. Numbers walking: 2-12, and usually about 8 mid-week and 3-4 on Saturday.
Where do we walk?
Saturday:
Anywhere in North and Mid-Wales, Peak District, Shropshire and the Long Mynd and as far North as the Trough of Bowland.
Thursday: Anywhere within about 40 miles of Chester.
Type of walk: Distance: 6 – 14 miles. Climb: up to 4000’ (but usually very much less!).
Those involved in 2017:-
Martyn Harris, Fran Murphy, Sue and Michel Pelissier, Annie Hammond, Sue and Dave Pearson, Mike Dodd, David and Anne Savage, Celia de Mengle, Wendy and Ian Peers, Roger and Margaret Smith, Tim and Carol Dwyer, Paul Collinson, Phil Marsland, Sylvia and Dave Jenkins, Sheila McNee, Ed Meads, Elaine and John Greenhalgh.

It didn't start well, as we arrived to find that the car park was closed, and had been for some years! We managed to squeeze four cars in area off the road opposite the gate to the old car park, but part of this area was very muddy, so much so that at the end of the day we had to give Phil a push to help him get out of the muddy area where his wheels were slipping!

The weather wasn't brilliant either, with very short showers on and off for most of the time before lunch. The walk along the Eglwyseg Escarpments, we had done before, and is always a good part of any walk with its dramatic views along the valley.

The walk across Ruabon Mountain towards the Frozen Clock was new to us, and finding the path was our first problem. For some this moorland crossing became a bit of a trudge, especially as they were hankering after a lunch spot. Some good views towards the Cheshire Plain were had s we descended towards Frozen Clock, our lunch spot for the day.

The final section of moorland from the Mountain Lodge back to the World's End road, was at times a challenge to the waterproofness of our boots. Thankfully no-one complained about wet feet!

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Distance: 10 miles. Climb: 1500'.
Start: Car parking area opposite the Ponderosa Cafe. Grid ref: SJ192480.
Leave Chester at 09-00 a.m.
This walk is taken from Dave Berry's book " Walks Around Ruabon Mountain, the Clywedog Valley and Hope Mountain." He describes it as a walk exploring open access moorland with panoramic views and contrasting forest paths.

Saturday 4th August 2012.

Weets Hill. This walk has been postponed until later in the year.We will take a coastal walk from Llanfairfechan to Tal-y-bont instead.

Distance: 9-10 miles. Climb: 900'
Start: Saltersforth Wharfe near Barnoldswick. Grid ref: SD887545.
Leave Chester at 08-00 a.m.
This walk is taken from Terry Marsh's book "50 Classic Walks in Lancashire" . He describes it as a fairly easy walk , combining farm paths, moorland paths and canal towpaths. Weet Hill offers some of the best views in the South Pennines.

Thursday 9th August 2012.

A Walk Around Disley.

Distance: 9-10 mile. Climb: 1200'.
Start: Disley Station Car Park. Grid ref: SJ972845. (If the car park is full, we will go to Lyme Park and park there, so if you are a National Trust member, bring your membership card with you.)
Leave Chester at 08-45 a.m.
This walk combine a walk from Jen Darling's book "More Pub Walks in Cheshire and the Wirral", with a walk from the "Pathfinders Guide to Cheshire".
The latter route takes us along the Gritstone Trail through Lyme Park and up to the Bowstones, where on a good day you get good views of Shutlingsloe and the Cheshire Plain. The other walk on the East side of Disley, climbs Black Hill and gives good views towards Kinder.

Saturday 11th August 2012.

Creigiau Gleison, Llyn Crafnant and Llyn Geirionydd.

Distance: 10-11 miles. Climb:2000'.
Start: Pay and Display Car park near Llyn Crafnant. Grid ref: SH756618.
Leave Chester at 08-00 a.m
This walk combines two walks from Carl Rogers book "Walks in the Conwy Valley". One walk is described as being quite strennuous and requires good route finding, particularly on the featureless approach to Creigiau Gleison. This little ridge is one that I have wanted to visit for some time, so let's hope for a good day weatherwise.

Thursday 16th August 2012.

World's End from the Ponderosa.

Distance: 9 miles. Climb: 1600'.
Start: Car parking area opposite the Ponderosa Cafe. Grid ref: SJ192480.
Leave Chester at 09-00 a.m.
This walk is taken from Dave Berry's book " Walks Around Ruabon Mountain, the Clywedog Valley and Hope Mountain." This is described as an exhilarating walk of great variety, on good upland paths and tracks with panoramic viewscapes.

Saturday 18th August 2012.

Tegg's Nose and Macclesfield Forest.

Distance: 9 miles. Climb: 1000'.
Start: Tegg's Nose Country Park Car park. Pay and Display. Grid ref: SJ950732.
Leave Chester at 08-30 a.m.
This walk is taken from the "Pathfinders Guide to Cheshire". It is described as a varied walk with good views from Tegg's Nose. We will visit Teg's Nose first, rather than at the end of the walk. The walk is also described as an undulating walk exploring the countryside on the edge of the Peak District.

Thursday 23rd August 2012.

The Three Lakes Walk.

Distance:11.6 miles; Climb:1523'.
Start: Park on grass verge just before crossing over the dam (Eastern side of the Llyn Aled). Grid ref:SH916579.
Leave Chester at 09-00 a.m.
This walk is taken from Dave Berry's books "Walks in the Hidden Heart of North Wales" and Walks Around Hiraethog Moors and Lakes" whichever you prefer. Same walks, just different covers, and one walk has been extended a little in the former book. Llyn Aled, Llyn Alwen and the Alwen Reservoir are the three "lakes" visited. In the past sections have been quite boggy to say the least, but hopefully it won't be too bad at this time of the year. This walk is not everyone's cup of tea, but over the years, it has become one of my favourite walks on the Denbigh Moors.

Saturday 25th August 2012.A Walk in the "Last of the Summer Wine" Territory.

This walk has been postponed and will be put on the list later in the year.

Distance: 9-10 miles. Climb: 1000'.
Start: Crown Bottom Car Park on Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth. Grid ref: SE14250837.
Leave Chester at 08-00 a.m.
This is a walk taken from "Great Walks In Great Britain - The Peak District". This walk is described as being moderately strenuous exploring the Holmfirth Valley. Talking to a walking group from Holmfirth when they were staying in the Mill in Chester, they described their home patch as being a superb area in which to walk. That couple with the fact that I like the series based there, made me decide to put this walk on, even though it is a little further than we normally travel. It looks as though I'll be driving!

Thursday 30th August 2012.

Eglwyseg and Rhuabon Mountain.

Distance: 9-10 miles. Climb: 1500'.
Start: World's End Car park. SJ232483.
Leave Chester at 09-00 a.m.
This walk is taken from Dave Berry's book " Walks Around Ruabon Mountain, the Clywedog Valley and Hope Mountain." This is described as a challenging walk, featuring contrasting Limestone escarpments and Heather Moorlands. This is a walk for experienced walkers - do we count!

It wasn't planned, but we ended up starting the walk at Llandulas instead of Abergele. In the end this turned out to be a good decision, as we were able to complete the inland part of the walk before the rain came. Whilst we didn't get any rain, the area over Gopa Woods looked as though it was in rain as we had lunch on a seat on the sea front at the delightful Welsh resort of Abergele. Although we didn't get the rain, it was quite humid at times, and only got the occasion relief from a cooling breeze. This was quite a varied walk, but distant views were somewhat limited as frequently the hills were decked in low rain clouds.

An enjoyable walk, and quite tiring,I was really looking forward to a pint at the Farmers Arms at Kelsall, alas it was closed with plastic cones across the entrance to the car park! We ended up at the Boot at Willington, where I was able to enjoy a pint Wheetwood best bitter.

The weather turned out to be almost perfect for walking, not too hot, not to cold, no rain, and occasionally a lovely cooling wind.

This was a superbly varied walk, one that I'm sure will be repeated many times. Much of the moorland around Cyrn-y-Brain, we have explored before, but the area around World's End was new, and the valley below Craig y forwyn was delightful, but better as we were ascending, rather than descending!

The surprise of the day was meeting a cyclist that had set off from Ellesmere as part of a cycling week based there, but she seemed to be enjoying the ride, despite the long trip involved!

Lunch was taken on the moor, just above World's End, where most of the group were able to enjoy some of Martyn's well matured birthday fruit cake!

After walk drinks taken at the Red Lion at Penyfordd, where Timothy Taylor Landlord was the best brew on offer. Not sure that we really enjoyed them, as our thoughts were still very much with the Jenkins' family.

With good weather forecast this was a walk that I was really looking foreward to, as this little ridge has been on my "to do list" for more years than I like to remember.

The weather was good, perhaps a little on the warm side, especially as the forecast wind didn't materialise until the descent of Crimpiau! The views all day were superb, although somewhat hazy. The paths were relatively good, although the descents were quite steep and one required a little bit of third leg work to get around (but we think there was probably a better route had we gone a little further West of the rocky outcrop at the end of the ridge).

This turned out to be a much more demanding walk than we had anticipated, and by the time we had descended to the Capel Curig - Llyn Crafant path, at least two of the group, had no appetite to extend the walk to Llyn Geirionydd. In fact I needed two good pints of Lees bitter at the Britannia at Halkyn to fully revive me!

I was quite surprised to see other walkers on this remote little ridge, but they were all walking from the Capel Curig side towards the Northern Llyn Cowlyd side, probably the better way of doing the ridge.

A superb Summer day was forecast, and that's what we got. Sunshine all day and alas no wind to keep us cool. As might be expected lots of people were taking advantage of the good weather, especially around Lyme Park. No problem with views today, and Shutlingsloe could clearly be seen.

Birds were few and far between, although we did see at least 5 Common kestrel hunting over the Whaley Moor area. Once again we saw lots of butterflies, mainly Small whites, Large whites, Meadow browns and Tortoiseshell.
The surprise of the day was the delightful little gritstone ridge, Whaley Moor, that gave superb views across towards Lyme Park.
Birds seen or heard today included: Carion crow, Jackdaw, Raven, Common buzzard, Common kestrel, Green woodpecker, Goldfinch, Black-headed gull and Canada goose.
Overall a good walk, just about right for today's rather warm conditions.
After walk drinks were taken at the Rams Head in Disley, where Celia enjoyed her lager, but the real drinklers found the Blacksheep bitter not at its best!

The weather forecast was at best light showers and at worse prolonged heavy showers. In the morning we had very little rain of any significance, late in the afternoon we did get a shower that lasted for nearly an hour!

This turned out to be a very pleasant coastal walk with lots of butterflies about and lots of birds to see, particularly around high tide.

The highlight of the day was probably seeing 80 Mute swans around Aber Ogwen, although seeing seven Eider ducks and 10 Ringed plover was good too.

Lunch was taken at Aber Ogwen, where we were able to take advantage of one of the pic-nic tables, unfortunately without a see view, and we didn't see where the swans went.

We also saw impressive numbers of Greylag geese, Canada geese, Oystercatchers, House martins, Barn swallow, Common swift, Common curlew and gulls.

The surprise of the day was seeing Lynn Loyley and Ringo as we approached Llanfairfechan at the end of the walk.

Much of this walk was new to us, although we had done most of the Coed Llandegla part of the walk. Overall this walk proved to be quite varied and the new part of the walk was along relatively good paths, even though the paths weren't easy to see on th OS map. This part of the walk had particularly good views down the Eglwyseg Valley and beyond towards the Berwyns.

The weather was better than expected as well, although we did get very light rain around lunch time. In fact we sheltered in Coed Llandegla for lunch, but it was debatable whether waterproofs were really necessary.

The section of the walk at the end as we crossed the moor with the start of the walk was in sight, proved quite challenging.especially if your boots were old and perhaps not as waterproof as they were when new!

Birds seen or heard today were few and far between but included: Barn swallow, Raven, Carrion crow, Meadow pipit, Kestrel, Common buzzard and Winter wren.

After walk drinks were enjoyed (by some) at the Bridge Inn at Pontblyddyn. It would seem that Cottage Brewery brews aren't to everyone's taste!